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Everything that happened at Spotify India’s first Equal Day
On 14 May, Mumbai joined nine cities across the world in hosting Spotify’s Equal Day. The event—named after Spotify’s global initiative to fuel equality in the music…
More SOUTH ASIA news
Spotify India enters into “first-of-its-kind telco partnership” with Vi
Vi—which was created from the merger of the telecom companies Vodafone India and the Aditya Birla Group conglomerate’s Idea Cellular—has entered into a partnership with Spotify. Through the tie-up, Vi…
Sonu Nigam’s I Believe Your Music will bring other artists under his label
On his birthday—which falls on 30 July—in 2020, Sonu Nigam launched his own label I Believe Music. This year, the veteran Indian film playback and pop singer used another special…
UK-based Virtuoso Music expands into India
UK-based music company Virtuoso Music, which is “dedicated to empowering artists, amplifying creativity and creating experiences”, has announced its expansion into India. Like in the UK, the firm will work…
Diljit Dosanjh breaks own record with North American leg of ‘Aura’ tour
Attendance and revenue figures for tours by Indian acts are hard to come by. Among the exceptions are the record-breaking runs by Diljit Dosanjh. The 15-date, 13-city North American leg…
TuneCore will take an Indian act to this year’s Axean Festival
TuneCore has been among the sponsors of the Axean Festival since the South-East Asian music conference and showcase’s inaugural edition in 2021. As part of its association with the event,…
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SOUTH ASIA NEWS BY REGION – select a tab to filter:
Spotify India enters into “first-of-its-kind telco partnership” with Vi
Vi—which was created from the merger of the telecom companies Vodafone India and the Aditya Birla Group conglomerate’s Idea Cellular—has entered into a partnership with Spotify. Through the tie-up, Vi subscribers with either an individual or family plan who have not previously used Spotify, will get three months’ complimentary access to the DSP’s Premium Standard…
Read more >>Sonu Nigam’s I Believe Your Music will bring other artists under his label
On his birthday—which falls on 30 July—in 2020, Sonu Nigam launched his own label I Believe Music. This year, the veteran Indian film playback and pop singer used another special occasion, Word Music Day—celebrated on 21 June—to start another initiative, I Believe Your Music (IBYM), which is “designed to discover, mentor, support, and elevate emerging…
Read more >>
(Another) AI Roundup: indie artists react to YouTube AI claims; Facebook; ErosMusic Worlds; and Modulate
We’re being flooded with AI news this week, so for the sake of our sanity, we’ve once again rounded it all up for you to digest in one crispy AI nugget: Earlier this month, Google and YouTube’s parent company Alphabet claimed that it has the right to use songs uploaded to YouTube to train its Lyria 3 AI-music model.…
Read more >>UK-based Virtuoso Music expands into India
UK-based music company Virtuoso Music, which is “dedicated to empowering artists, amplifying creativity and creating experiences”, has announced its expansion into India. Like in the UK, the firm will work with independent artists, songwriters, producers and publishers as well as major labels across the south Asian nation, in the areas of music creation and distribution,…
Read more >>Diljit Dosanjh breaks own record with North American leg of ‘Aura’ tour
Attendance and revenue figures for tours by Indian acts are hard to come by. Among the exceptions are the record-breaking runs by Diljit Dosanjh. The 15-date, 13-city North American leg of the Punjabi singer’s Aura World Tour, which was held between 23 April and 21 June, drew more than 225,000 attendees and grossed $32m, says…
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Spotify hikes prices in India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan
For the first time since its launch in India in February 2019, Spotify has raised the prices of its premium plans. The individual plan now costs Rs139 per month, up front Rs119; the family plan—for up to six accounts—has been increased to Rs229 per month, from Rs170; the duo plan to Rs179 per month, from Rs149;…
Read more >>Spotify India enters into “first-of-its-kind telco partnership” with Vi
Vi—which was created from the merger of the telecom companies Vodafone India and the Aditya Birla Group conglomerate’s Idea Cellular—has entered into a partnership with Spotify. Through the tie-up, Vi subscribers with either an individual or family plan who have not previously used Spotify, will get three months’ complimentary access to the DSP’s Premium Standard…
Read more >>Sonu Nigam’s I Believe Your Music will bring other artists under his label
On his birthday—which falls on 30 July—in 2020, Sonu Nigam launched his own label I Believe Music. This year, the veteran Indian film playback and pop singer used another special occasion, Word Music Day—celebrated on 21 June—to start another initiative, I Believe Your Music (IBYM), which is “designed to discover, mentor, support, and elevate emerging…
Read more >>(Another) AI Roundup: indie artists react to YouTube AI claims; Facebook; ErosMusic Worlds; and Modulate
We’re being flooded with AI news this week, so for the sake of our sanity, we’ve once again rounded it all up for you to digest in one crispy AI nugget: Earlier this month, Google and YouTube’s parent company Alphabet claimed that it has the right to use songs uploaded to YouTube to train its Lyria 3 AI-music model.…
Read more >>UK-based Virtuoso Music expands into India
UK-based music company Virtuoso Music, which is “dedicated to empowering artists, amplifying creativity and creating experiences”, has announced its expansion into India. Like in the UK, the firm will work with independent artists, songwriters, producers and publishers as well as major labels across the south Asian nation, in the areas of music creation and distribution,…
Read more >>Diljit Dosanjh breaks own record with North American leg of ‘Aura’ tour
Attendance and revenue figures for tours by Indian acts are hard to come by. Among the exceptions are the record-breaking runs by Diljit Dosanjh. The 15-date, 13-city North American leg of the Punjabi singer’s Aura World Tour, which was held between 23 April and 21 June, drew more than 225,000 attendees and grossed $32m, says…
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‘Coke Studio Pakistan’ team spotlight rising local talent on new series ‘Humnava’
Fans of Coke Studio Pakistan awaiting the sixteenth season of the music video series have got a new offering from the team behind the most recent iterations of the show. Music composer Xulfi and production company Giraffe’s CEO Muhammad Ibrahim’s recently-launched project Humnava is similar yet different. Co-curated by guitarist and music producer Sherry Khattak…
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Spotify marks fifth anniversary in Pakistan with stats for the past half-decade
Spotify completed five years of operation in Pakistan towards the end of February, and as we’ve come to expect, they marked the occasion by sharing a bunch of new stats about the growth of local artists on the platform. Overall, listenership in the country has increased by more than 750% between 2021 and 2026, while…
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Singer-songwriter Shae Gill is Spotify Radar Pakistan’s first featured artist for 2026
Shae Gill is the Spotify Radar Pakistan artist for Q1 2026. The singer-songwriter is best known for her collaborations, most notably ‘Pasoori’, her 2022 Coke Studio duet with Ali Sethi that went on to become the most-streamed song in Pakistan on Spotify that year and the first-ever Pakistani track to hit the top the three on…
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Talha Anjum and Umair were Spotify’s most-streamed local acts in Pakistan during 2025
Last week, Spotify shared year-end charts for Pakistan. As in previous years, they focus on domestic acts and releases. For the second time in a row, rapper Talha Anjum and producer Umair are the top two most-streamed local artists in the country. Singer-songwriter Hasan Raheem is No.3, up from No.8 in 2024. The top five…
Read more >>
Karan Aujla, Punjabi pop dominate Apple Music’s year-end chart for India
Punjabi pop icon Karan Aujla’s 2024 single ‘Wavy’ was the most-streamed song on Apple Music in India, as per the DSP’s year-end chart, which is based on plays between 1 November 2024 and 31 October 2025. Aujla has three more tracks in the top ten, and a total of 15 in the top 100, a…
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